Multiple missile cartridge



July 20, 1965 G. H. FREED MULTIPLE MISSILE CARTRIDGE Filed July 31, 1963 United States Patent 3,195,461 MULTHPLE MISSILE CARTRHDGE 'George H. Freed, Pine Brook, NJ, assignor of fifty This application is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 166,738, filed January 10, 1962, now abandoned, and of application Serial No. 298,884, filed July 31, 1963, now Patent No. 3,131,634.

lhis invention relates to multiple missile cartridges for firearms, and more particularly to the load of missiles therein contained. Although the invention was made in connection with attempts to improve the performance of shotgun shells by improving the manner in which the missiles are loaded therein, and will therefore be described in connection with such cartridges, it will be understood that the invention may have application in multiple missile cartridges for handgun or other uses.

The tests of good performance upon firing a buckshot or birdshot shell include a determination of how many of the missile load will strike within a given target area at a given range, how hard in terms of foot-pounds of striking energy each missile will hit the target at a given range, and of how short is the shot string as measured between the leading missileand the last missile in flight at the time the lead missile strikes the target at a given range. Generally, it is desired that a maximum number of missiles strike the target area, that each missile will strike with high energy, and that the shot string be as short as possible so that more of the missiles will reach the target at approximately the same time as is necessary, for example, when the target such as a bird is moving swiftly.

The so-called conventional buckshot or birdshot cartridge is plainly loaded With a number of missiles, usually of uniform size. As an example of the performance to be expected from such conventional loading, certain independent statistics shoW that, upon firing a cartridge containing No. 00 buckshot, forty percent of the missiles will strike within the area of a thirty-inch diameter circle at a range of fifty yards; each missile will strike W'th about 90 ft. lbs. of energy; and, when at a distance of forty yards from the barrel, the shot string will extend 7.4 feet.

Especially in the case of large buckshot, it has heretofore been believed that distortion of the individual missiles as occurs immediately upon firing the cartridge is a highly significant factor as regards poor performance. The missile distortion, and in some instances the Welding together thereof as also occurs, is largely attributed to the tremendous force with which each missile initially presses against its adjacent missile or missiles as the charge is fired, the pressure being initially exerted on the missiles nearest the charge and progressively on the remainder of the missiles in the forward direction. it is thought that the rearwardmost missiles in the string are subjected to greater distortion, and therefore have a greater tendency to disperse from the string upon leaving the gun, and further tend to travel at lower velocity than the more nearly spherical missiles which are forward thereof, the latter etfect tending to lengthen the shot string and reduce the amount of energy with which the missiles strike the target. It was therefore believed that a filler of some kind, disposed between all of the missiles, might tend to prevent such distortion.

It is reported that one cartridge manufacturer experimented using as many as fifty different types of filler material for the purpose, including Wheat middlings, corn fiakes, waxes of all types, vermiculite, and ethyl cellulose, and finally selected powdered polyethylene as the optimum filler material. Among nimrods, the discovery is considered quite remarkable as evidenced by comparative performance statistics using a load of No. 00 buckshot: a forty percent pattern is achieved at seventy four yards, rather than fifty yards; each missile delivers about ninety foot pounds of energy at seventy yards; and, at forty yards, the shot string measures only 4.1 feet as compared to the aforementioned 7.4 feet for conventional loads.

However, and by comparison, the present invention provides a multiple missile cartridge which, when loaded with the same No. 00 buckshot for example, will cause five out of six of the number of missiles in the load to strike a target area of approximately the size of a human hand at a range of forty-five yards. While actual tests have not as yet been performed, it appears that the missiles strike the target With as much energy, and that the shot string is at least as short, as those characteristics of the aforementioned most advanced type loading heretofore attained,

I have discovered that, by interspersing steel wool between the missiles in the cartridge, the shot performance derived from multiple missile cartridges is greatly improved. In a preferred embodiment, No. l-medium steel Wool is used for the purpose, but both No. 2-coarse and No. O-medium-fine steel wool have been found satisfactory. Since the metal wool emerges from the barrel with the shot, the steel wool should have hardness less than that of the gun barrel to avoid Wear of the latter. Alternatively, it appears that copper Wool, or a similar soft metal wool may also be used.

Briefly describing the invention in its preferred embodiment, thin wads or layers of steel Wool are interleaved between the layers or rows of shot throughout the length of the shot receiving chamber of the cartridge. Preferably, a layer of the metal wool is disposed at each end of the column of shot, the first layer of metal wool being adjacent the usual wadding material which isolates the powder charge from the missile chamber, and the last being adjacent the cardboard Wadding or the like which closes the missile chamber at the muzzle end of the cartridge. The closure at the muzzle end of the cartridge holds the load firmly in place, in conventional manner. The pinch-size wads of metal Wool need not be flat, but may billow into the interstices between the shot and tend to surround the adjacent row of shot along the interior of the longitudinally extending wall of the missile chamber.

Although the invention will be described as used in connection with cartridges loaded with relatively large size buckshot, it appears that it may be used in loads of smaller size buckshot and in loads of birdshot to improve the performance thereof. It will also be seen from an alternative missile arrangement to be described that the present invention may be incorporated in a cartridge loaded with shot which have diameter greater than onehalf the diameter of the missile chamber, such being the subject matter of my copending application Serial No. 166,738, filed January 10, 1962, now abandoned, and of my copending application Serial No. 298,884, filed July 31, 13 63, now Patent No. 3,131,634. To this extent, the present invention is a continuation-in-part of said earlier filed application.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description thereof, when taken with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary cross-sectional side View of a multiple missile buckshot cartridge in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional end view as seen from lines 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional side view showing an al' rnative missile arrangement in the cartridges; and

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional end view as seen from lines t l of FIGURE 3.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings, the invention is shown as incorporated in a shotgun cartridge which is generally indicated by reference numeral 1th. The cartridge 1% is formed from a tubular casing 11 of cardboard, plastic, or other usual material, and is longitudinally divided by one or more molded wadding inserts If in a powder chamber 13 and a missile receiving chamber 14, as is conventional.

The powder chamber 13 is enclosed by the usual brass or similar base 15, which includes the usual primer assembly, the latter being only generally indicated by reference numeral 16. A closure 17, of cardboard wadding or the like, is held in place by the inwardly turned end Ila of the tubular casing 11. Thus, the missile chamber 14 is ultimately closed at the other, or muzzle end 11b of the cartridge. The missile chamber 14 contains a pluraiity of missiles T8. In t e embodiment of FIGURES 1 and 2, the missiles 18 are all of spherical, N0. 00 buckshot, these being disposed in four rows of three each, making a total of twelve missiles in the load. The illustrated cartridge 19 is a 12-gauge cartridge so that, by reason of their diameter and as shown in FIGURE 2, the three missiles 1% in any row thereof lie Within the same transverse plane, contacting each other, and each contacting the interior of the missile chamber wall which is formed by the tubular casing II.

In accordance with a preferred form of the present invention, a relatively thin wad or layer of No. l-medium steel wool is disposed between each of the rows of missiles, as most clearly indicated in FIGURE 1 wherein the layers of steel wool are respectively numbered l9a-e inclusive in the direction of the muzzle end lib of the cartridge.

Considering the cartridge 10 as being stood upright on its base 15, the missile chamber 14- is loaded by first placing the steel wool layer 31% within the chamber adjacent the molding wadding 12 which forms a bottom wall 14a thereof, then placing the first row of three missiles thereon, then placing the steel wool layer 19b on top of the first row of missiles, then placing a second row of missiles 18 thereon, and so on until the missile chamber 14 has been filled with the alternating rows of missiles and layers of steel wool, a covering layer 19c of steel wool being disposed on top of the last row of missiles prior to placing the closure 17 thereon and turning the end of the tubular casing inwardly as at Ha.

It will be seen from FIGURE 1 that as the three missiles in any succeeding row are dropped into the missile chamber from the muzzle end of the casing, they tend to seat Within the interstices between the missiles of the next preceding row so that the rows somewhat overlap in the longitudinal direction in a natural manner. It will also be understood that each of the layers of steel wool tend to billow longitudinally into the interstices 1311 between the missiles in the adjacent row, and that the layers may tend to intermesh with each other and somewhat surround the missile row. The amount of molded wadding 12 which is used in the cartridge is varied in accordance with the number of rows of missiles which are contained within the missile chamber so that, when the muzzle end closure is in place, the load of missiles and steel wool is held firmly, as is conventional.

Referring now to an alternative missile arrangment as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, the cartridge 10 contains a missile load generally in accordance with the disclosure of my aforementioned copending application Serial No. 166,738. That is, the load includes a plurality of missiles Z'd each of which has a diameter which is larger than onehalf the internal diameter of the tubular casing 11, and a corresponding plurality of smaller missiles 21 each of which has a diameter substantially equal to the difference between the diameter of its adjacent missile 2t) and that the interior of the tubular casing 11. The missiles 2t and 21 are arranged in pairs as shown, and it will be understood that the missiles 20 may be either No. 4-0, 54), or 60 buckshot, or even larger, the size of their adjacent missiles 21 being commensurate therewith as aforementioned. The missile receiving chamber 14 is loaded using alternate layers of steel Wool and rows of missiles 2d, 21, as described in connection with the missile arrangement shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, a layer 19a of steel wool being disposed between the molded wadding 12 and the first row of missiles 20, 21, and a layer 1% of steel wool being disposed between the last row of missiles 2d, 21 and the muzzle end closure 17. It will be noted that the missiles 2t 21 may be conveniently arranged in criss-cross fashion as shown, although they may be aligned longitudinally if desired, and that any number of missile rows may be included.

The invention appears to be useful when loading any gauge cartridge with buckshot or birdshot of any size. For example, No. 3-0 buckshot has diameter approximately equal to half the interior diameter of a 12-gauge cartridge so that the missiles may be loaded in criss-cross fashion, two in a row, using a layer of metal wool between each of the rows. In fact, any desired missile arrangement is contemplated by the invention. Birdshot, preferably No. 4 to No. 9 in size, is conveniently loaded somewhat at random using a partial charge of birdshot, which may be of more than one row in width, between the successive layers of metal wool.

Although in the foregoing description the metal wool between the rows of missiles has been described as being steel wool, it will be understood that other types of woollike material, such as copper wool or brass wool or the like, might be used for the purpose.

Although the actual action of the metal wool in enhancing the performance of the buckshot upon discharge is not known, it is thought that the metal wool may tend to prevent wedging and consequent distortion of the missiles upon firing the cartridge, but in any event tends to hold the missile load together after it passes out of the gun barrel. That is whether or not distortion of the missiles is prevented, the metal wool entangles the missiles with the result that, during flight, the latter are held together in a close pattern. It is also thought that the metal wool may serve as would the tail of an arrow or an airfoil to stabilize the trajectory of each missile in flight.

Thus has been described a multiple missile cartridge which achieves all of the objects of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A multiple missile cartridge comprising a casing defining a hollow missile chamber, a missile row within and extending substantially across the width of said chamber, said missile row comprising a plurality of missiles, and a layer of stiff and strong intermeshed stringy material capable of entangling said missiles in flight after said cartridge has been fired, said material being disposed adjacent said missile row and extending substantially across the width of said chamber.

2. A multiple missile cartridge according to claim 1 wherein said material comprises metal wool.

3. A multiple missile cartridge according to claim 2 wherein said metal wool comprises steel wool.

4. A multiple missile cartridge according to claim 2 wherein said metal wool comprises a non-ferrous material.

5. A multiple missile cartridge according to claim 4 wherein said non-ferrous material comprises copper.

6. A multiple missile cartridge comprising a casing defining a hollow cylindrical missile chamber having a muzzle end, means defining a bottom wall of said chamber longitudinally spaced from said muzzle end, a plurality of missile rows Within and occupying substantially the length of said chamber between said bottom wall and said muzzle end, said missile rows each being substantially in contact with its next adjacent missile row, each of said missile rows extending substantially across the inside diameter of said chamber and comprising at least one spherical missile, and a layer of metal wool material disposed between each said missile row.

7. A multiple missile cartridge according to claim 6 wherein a layer of metal wool is also disposed between said bottom wall and that missile row which is next adjacent said bottom Wall.

8. A multiple missile cartridge according to claim 6 wherein a layer of metal wool is also disposed substantially at said muzzle end of the chamber.

9. A multiple missile cartridge comprising a casing defining a hollow cylindrical missile chamber having a muzzle end, means defining a bottom wall of said chamber longitudinally spaced from said muzzle end, a plurality of missile rows within and occupying substantially the length or" said chamber between said bottom wall and said muzzle end, said missile rows each being substantially in contact with its next adjacent missile row, each of said missile rows extending substantially across the inside diameter of said chamber and comprising a plurality of spherical missiles, a layer of metal wool disposed between each of said missile rows, and missile retention means substantially at said muzzle end of the chamber.

10. A multiple missile cartridge according to claim 9 wherein a layer of metal wool is disposed between said chamber bottom wall and that missile row which is next adjacent said bottom wall, and a layer of metal wool is disposed between said missile retention means and that missile row which is next adjacent said missile retention means.

ll. A multiple missile cartridge according to claim 9 wherein metal wool is disposed within the interstices between said missiles of each missile row.

12. A multiple missile cartridge according claim 9 wherein each of said missile rows contains two missiles, one of said two missiles having a diameter which is greater than one-half but less than the whole interior diameter of said chamber, and the other of said two missiles having a diameter which is substantially equal to the difference between said interior diameter of the chamber and said one missile.

l tel erences Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 17,28'7 5/57 Lindner 102-42 347,988 8/86 Boyd 10242 3,092,026 6/63 Williams et al 10242 FOREEGN PATENTS 144,95 7 10/ Austria.

6,184 l/ 79 Germany. 209,009 1/24 Breat Britain.

SAMUEL FEINBERG, Primary Examiner.

BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Examiner. 

1. A MULTIPLE MISSILE CARTRIDGE COMPRISING A CASING DEFINING A HOLLOW MISSILE CHAMBER, A MISSILE ROW WITHIN AND EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY ACROSS THE WIDTH OF SAID CHAMBER, SAID MISSILE ROW COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF MISSILES, AND LAYER OF STIFF AND STRONG INTERMESHED STRINGY MATERIAL CAPABLE OF ENTANGLING SAID MISSILES IN FLIGHT AFTER SAID CARTRIDGE HAS BEEN FIRED, SAID MATERIAL BEING DISPOSED ADJACENT SAID MISSILE ROW AND EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY ACROSS THE WIDTH OF SAID CHAMBER. 